In response to the changing urban fabric of Hackney Wick, a new kind of 'hackable' housing system is proposed on the canalside McGrath waste disposal site. Whilst recognising the reality of developer-driven models, the project seeks to empower the resident, offering them more methods of ownership and identity within the semi-public, semi-private system. 

A series of multifunctional towers are arrayed across the site, allowing new occupants to deploy and construct ‘affordances’ according to their needs and budget. A multifunctional object-based architecture is imagined, where building parts can have multiple uses in time, increase spatial efficiency, create longevity of material use and increase the symbolic value of construction.

Inspired by Venturi Scott-Brown, Dieter Rams plus Lacaton and Vassal, the project is calibrated to the socio-economic ground conditions of the site and explores ideas of 'permanence' and 'informality'. The project examines many different facets and scales of housing production, with the aim of creating better quality, more durable, richer environments for people to inhabit. Delighting in the dismantling, understanding and reordering of everything he touches, be it through experiments in product design, physical modelling (and breaking), 3D printing, animation, coding, drawing, or even specification writing, Maxim is a true hacker.